The present invention relates to devices for injecting, delivering, administering, infusing or dispensing a substance, and to methods of making and using such devices. Such devices often involve container, vial, ampoule, carpoule or reservoir for containing the substance, and more particularly, the present invention relates to an ampoule holder for accommodating an ampoule. The teem ampoule is intended refer to any suitable container-like item, e.g. a vial, etc., from the field of medical technology, in which is contained a product, e.g. a therapeutic or medicinal substance, to be administered using one of the afore-mentioned devices. The term ampoule can refer to both a one-chamber ampoule and multi-chamber ampoules, e.g. a two-chamber ampoule.
Ampoules are known from the prior art which comprise a cylindrical wall which surrounds a plunger or piston which abuts the inner side of the wall, forming a seal. The plunger can be shifted relative to the wall in the direction of an outlet. The product is situated between the plunger and the outlet. The product container is sealed at the outlet with a seal or septum. The seal can be penetrated by a sharp object, e.g. a needle, cannula, etc. The known ampoules comprise an ampoule neck, at which the ampoule tapers, between the cylindrical casing wall and the seal. The known seals have a smaller outer diameter than the cylindrical casing wall. The smaller diameter of the seal serves to enable the ampoule to be inserted into an ampoule holder from the proximal (rear) opening of the ampoule holder and to be pressed into a fixed fit with the ampoule holder via the tapering part of the ampoule neck. The small diameter of the seal enables the septum to be penetrated with a relatively thin needle. Thin needles have the advantage that they do not cause the patient as much pain during injecting, but the disadvantage that the delivering force which has to be applied to the plunger to deliver the product is relatively large, since the product has to be pressed through a thin channel of the needle. This effect is more significant the higher the viscosity of the product contained in the ampoule.